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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22879984">Straying Off</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/toffiendfee/pseuds/toffiendfee'>toffiendfee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Straying Off [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Initial D</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Caring, Dom/sub Undertones, Feeding, Hurt/Comfort, Light Bondage, M/M, Non-Sexual Kink, Sleep Deprivation, i think we need more of that, shameless fluff, so i wrote some, soft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:35:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,340</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22879984</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/toffiendfee/pseuds/toffiendfee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Takumi hasn't been sleeping that much lately. Or that well, for that matter. But it's not a big deal, right...?</p><p>...Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), his teammates beg to differ.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fujiwara Takumi/Takahashi Keisuke, Fujiwara Takumi/Takahashi Ryousuke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Straying Off [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1961395</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>154</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The beginning of this WIP has been sitting around for a while, occasionally calling for my attention. I mostly didn't continue it because I was shying away from committing to a plot. But for some reason <s>(I was stressed by exams and that always makes me write either weird angst or weird hurt/comfort)</s> I felt inspired to continue it, and here it is. It's not the best thing I've ever written, but I'm still proud of some parts. </p><p>If you'd like a continuation, I'd be happy if you let me know! I'm just... not sure about this one.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything about the entire situation started out quite harmlessly. In fact, it probably started that one evening out on the mountain pass practising, the remaining heat of a summer’s day still weighing down on the starry clear night. Looking back on it, it might have started with that one single seemingly harmless question.</p><p>"Tough day, huh?"</p><p>Harmless on first sight, anyway. But it was the kind of question that could hold numerous different undertones, especially if the asker was someone like Takahashi Keisuke. It could mean anything from <em>'man, Ryousuke sure didn't go easy on us today'</em> to <em>'your performance was a bit lacking, wasn't it?'</em></p><p>To Takumi, talking to some of his teammates felt a bit like treading onto a minefield sometimes. One false step and more questions followed that he was never really sure how to answer, which was especially the case when Ryousuke or Keisuke were involved.</p><p>With that in mind, Takumi made some noncommittal noise and hoped that was answer enough for his teammate.</p><p>It was, apparently, and Keisuke didn't try to deepen the conversation. They continued to stand in silence as he made no move to leave again either. It probably meant that there was something on his mind because he didn't usually spend time around Takumi when there were others to talk to. Not like that bothered Takumi. He knew that he didn't have much to tell, and besides racing there was nothing connecting the two of them.</p><p>Right now, however, Keisuke stayed where he was and didn't go back to the others, which made Takumi think that there really might be some hidden hook to his earlier question. Keisuke wasn't easy to read, but it wasn't like Takumi was really that great at reading people in the first place. He liked it when people were honest and straightforward. Which Keisuke was, in many ways actually, but you could never be <em>sure</em> when he was not. Ryousuke was like that as well, or maybe even worse, but he wouldn't hide his criticism like this. Or maybe he would, and Takumi just never figured it out.</p><p>He decided to stay on guard, which proved to be the right instinct as Keisuke suddenly spoke up again without any prior warning.</p><p>"You're tired," he said, and it was more statement than question.</p><p>Now where did that one come from? Takumi glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. He was looking back.</p><p>"Not really," Takumi answered and looked ahead again. He wasn't sure why he was denying it, as it was the truth. He was exhausted. It had been a long day for him and work had been especially tough today, and he really didn't have that much energy left anymore. Maybe he didn't want to admit it because it made him feel uncomfortable that it was obvious enough for Keisuke to comment on.</p><p>Keisuke still seemed to know that he had just hit a bullseye. "You are," he insisted, still looking at Takumi, his expression unreadable.</p><p>Was that what this was all about? Had he been worse than usual because he was a bit tired? That didn't make sense. He knew that this wasn't the worst he had felt by far, and he wondered why Keisuke would pick up on it now rather than all these other times.</p><p>"Hm." Takumi wouldn't give another answer, one that openly acknowledged that Keisuke was right. But there was this unfortunate established fact that once his teammate caught whiff of a trail, he would absolutely follow it to the end.</p><p>Which was exactly why Takumi was so baffled when Keisuke merely looked at him for another long moment and then turned around to go back to his car. "We're leaving," he called back over his shoulder. "You should, too."</p><p>Huh. Now that. <em>That</em> had been weird.</p><p>For the sake of the sleep that he was hopefully still going to get tonight, Takumi decided not to dwell on it too much as he followed him to the cars.</p><p> </p><p>Something like that happened again a few weeks later. This time, however, Takumi was better prepared for it as he had tried to keep an eye on Keisuke the entire evening and therefore noticed immediately when his teammate approached, two cans of vending machine coffee in his hands and that narrow-eyed scrutinizing look on his face.</p><p>He tossed one of the cans to Takumi, who almost didn't catch it. In the last possible moment, his fingers closed around the metal and stopped the can from landing on the ground.</p><p>"Don't tell me that you're not tired this time," Keisuke said.</p><p>Takumi glared at him, just a little bit. He didn't dignify the question with an answer.</p><p>"Aniki's getting worried," Keisuke continued in a quite nonchalant tone, but one look at his expression told Takumi that it wasn't. Keisuke was searching his face for a reaction and looked away with a little scoff when he didn't find one.</p><p><em>If that's the case, why are </em>you<em> here to tell me about it?</em></p><p>Keisuke took a sip of his coffee and grimaced. "Fuckin' bitter," he cursed under his breath, before glancing at Takumi and raising his voice again, "I just figured I'd warn you before he interrogates you about it. He won't let you get away with it as easily as I did, so I'd do something about it if I were you."</p><p>"What are you talking about?"</p><p>Keisuke, who had been leaning against the railing next to Takumi, turned his face towards him, frowning. "Look, Fujiwara, I have no idea what you think you're doing. But everyone's starting to notice that something's off lately. You come to practise looking like a zombie and like you're about to fall asleep while standing. You're not fooling anyone here. I don't know what’s going on, but every time you get into your car, I'm half-expecting that we'll need to scrape your remains off a cliff because you dozed off in the middle of a drift. Yes, it's that bad. Seriously, Fujiwara – what the hell is going on with you?"</p><p>"It's <em>not</em> that bad," Takumi defended himself. "I'm <em>fine</em>. I don’t know what makes you think I can't handle a little tiredness. Of course I'm tired. It's the middle of the night and I could be asleep in my bed instead of being here, sure. But so could you. So, where's the problem all of a sudden?"</p><p>"The problem," Keisuke said lowly, obviously trying to keep himself from shouting, "is that I can see that it's fucking starting to affect you. Your driving isn't as smooth as it used to be, and you'll be losing time if it goes on like this. I already noticed it two weeks ago, but when I told aniki, he told me the same thing that you just said to me. But now he's starting to notice it, too. Whatever you're doing, I want you to cut it off."</p><p>"Why is that your business?" Takumi asked irately, but he quickly noticed that those words had been a mistake. He watched Keisuke whip around to face him fully, his long fingers clenching around the can of coffee and his blue eyes almost sparking with rage.</p><p>"I want you to take this seriously. I've always wanted you to take this whole thing seriously, and now you're starting to risk everything because you're apparently not able to take care of yourself! Do you think this is a joke to me?!"</p><p>He had been raising his voice more and more until the last part came out as a shout. Takumi glanced in the direction of the rest of the team and saw Fumihiro looking over at them with raised brows. Great. Takumi expected that he had less than three minutes before Ryousuke checked on them, and that only if he hadn't heard his brother's shouting already.</p><p>He looked back at Keisuke, barely attempting anymore to keep the anger from his own voice. <em>"Don't </em>you<em> dare </em>accuse me of not taking this seriously. I'm not here for some kind of half-assed reason, and you know that. I'm here to become better. I'm here to prove that I deserve my place on this team, and I expected you to understand that the most."</p><p>Keisuke grit his teeth. "Then <em>stop</em> running yourself ragged, because that's not going to improve anything!"</p><p>Takumi glared back at him, a reply already on his tongue. He was interrupted by a sudden voice startling both him and Keisuke, causing both of them to look towards the speaker.</p><p>"Do you two maybe feel like sharing with me the reason why you are shouting at each other loudly enough that the entire mountain can hear it?" Ryousuke's expression was neutral as always, but his tone revealed a hint of annoyance. Takumi winced. He had spent enough time around his mentor to dread the rare occasions that he got genuinely angry. They must have been really loud.</p><p>Keisuke, on the other hand, seemed relieved about his brother's appearance.</p><p>"Aniki! Fujiwara's being stubborn. For fuck's sake, tell him that he needs to get some sleep. He won't listen to me."</p><p>Takumi frowned, not at all happy with being talked over like that. "Keisuke-san, I can take care of myself," he said sharply, and then to Ryousuke, "I'm sorry for being loud. It won't happen again."</p><p>Keisuke scoffed. "You can obviously <em>not</em>," he retorted, making absolutely no motion to apologise. "When was the last time you slept for more than four hours, huh?"</p><p>"I still don't see why that is your business-"</p><p>"Quiet, both of you," Ryousuke said sharply. Takumi swallowed the rest of the retort that lay on his tongue and watched as Keisuke winced this time, too. That had been the 'stern older brother' tone of voice. Keisuke probably had lots of experience with it, and while Takumi didn't have any siblings, it didn't fail to intimidate him into shutting his mouth.</p><p>They both watched in awkward silence as Ryousuke raised his hands to his head and rubbed his temples. "<em>Thank</em> you," he said. To Takumi's chagrin, he then turned to him.</p><p>"Keisuke has told me already that he thinks you appear overly tired, and I must say I agree," he stated calmly. Behind him, Takumi saw Keisuke grinning at him triumphantly. What a child.</p><p>"I feel perfectly fine," Takumi repeated for what he felt was the tenth time this week. Only it seemed that Ryousuke was just as inclined to believe him as Keisuke had been. So, not very.</p><p>Ryousuke gave him a long look and let out a little sigh. The sound made something in Takumi's stomach sink. It sounded very much like he wasn't going to like the next words that left the other's mouth. "Fujiwara, I am not interested in interfering with your private life. What you do with your time is your decision alone." He paused and gave Takumi time to brace himself for the next part. "But as the leader of this project, I need to have the team's best interest at heart. And that includes you. Your wellbeing is absolutely essential to the Project's success, and I have noticed that your times have been getting worse lately."</p><p>Takumi bit his lip and looked away as the words hit him full force. This was exactly what he had been afraid of and trying to avoid. Not only did he feel like he was getting a lecture; he had pretty much just been told that his performance wasn't good enough anymore. But he came here in order to improve. If he couldn't do that anymore, then…</p><p>Was he risking his place on the team right now?</p><p>"That aside," Ryousuke continued, his voice a bit gentler, "I am also concerned for your health. If you are not getting enough rest, I am sure we can adjust the training regimen accordingly."</p><p>"That's not necessary," Takumi quickly replied, trying to keep his voice steady. What kind of teammate was he when practise runs had to be cancelled just because he couldn't keep up? And besides, he needed the practise. Keisuke was getting better and better, and if Takumi didn't watch out, he would simply not be able to keep up with him much longer. And if he couldn't keep up, he would also start losing races against other teams and all of Ryousuke's hard work he invested into the Project would be for naught.</p><p>"Fujiwara," Keisuke butted in, sounding slightly exasperated. He had lost his triumphant grin again and looked serious instead. "This is <em>dangerous</em>. For everyone, but especially for you."</p><p>"I agree," Ryousuke said before Takumi got a chance to reply. "I trust that you are aware of how one's concentration suffers under exhaustion. It is simply not worth the risk, especially because the problem can be so easily fixed."</p><p>Ha. If only it were that easy. Takumi sighed, the fight slowly leaving him as he stood there under the scrutiny of both brothers. The rest of the team was scattered some distance away, occasionally glancing over to where the three of them were standing. Takumi realised that it wasn't fair towards them either; risking bringing them all down because he didn't catch a proper break. Yes, he had to admit that he wasn't sleeping much. There wasn't all that much time between work, delivery runs and practise meetings. And Takumi couldn't just leave off one of the three. He needed the money, his dad needed the help, and he needed the training. He didn't know how Ryousuke could say that this problem could be 'easily fixed.'</p><p>"You're admitting it now, aren't you?" Keisuke said. Takumi looked up at him, about to give an angry reply, but the words got stuck in his throat upon seeing Keisuke's expression. He looked actually concerned, and Takumi's anger promptly redirected itself. He was now angry at himself for causing such a hassle for everyone. He didn't reply, looking away instead. Takumi felt the tiredness in his bones now, as if to prove the brothers right. He hadn't realised it to be this bad before.</p><p>A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts. When he looked up, he met Ryousuke's serious gaze. "Don't worry too much, Fujiwara. I was about to call an end to tonight's meeting, anyway. You should return home and get some rest."</p><p>Takumi felt terrible. The reassurance didn't do much to console him, but he nodded resignedly. There was no point in arguing with Ryousuke right now.</p><p>He saw Keisuke shift next to him out of the corner of his eye, crossing his arms. "Aniki, that's over half an hour from here. I don't like it."</p><p>Ryousuke turned to him, inclining his head a little. "Are you suggesting that one of us brings him home?"</p><p>Keisuke huffed. "No. I don't trust him one bit that he won't just go up Akina afterwards, or something. I'm suggesting that he comes with us."</p><p>"You mean that he spends the night at our home instead?" Judging by the tone of his voice, Ryousuke was just as shocked by the idea as Takumi was. Well, 'shocked' may not be the right word. More surprised, really.</p><p>"What? There's a guest room ready and all. It wouldn't even be any extra work," Keisuke pointed out.</p><p>Takumi spluttered, but to his horror he saw that Ryousuke only seemed taken aback instead of completely opposed to the idea.</p><p>"Really, there is no need for that. I'm not too tired to make it home," Takumi quickly protested. He wasn't planning to occupy any more of their time than he already had. Also, he felt like he could end up jumping at Keisuke's throat if he had to spend any more time around him tonight.</p><p>As if on cue, Keisuke said, "I'm not going to listen to anything you have to say about that anymore. I can't even hear you." He then turned his face away as if he really hadn't heard Takumi's protest, pretending to be focused on something else instead.</p><p>Takumi was damn near fuming at this point. "Stop treating me like a child, Keisuke-san."</p><p>"Only if you stop behaving like one," Keisuke shot back.</p><p>"Keisuke," Ryousuke reprimanded him before Takumi could actually end up punching him, "You are not improving anything." To Takumi, he said, "I have to say that I would also feel more comfortable if you didn't drive home tonight. You would do me a favour."</p><p>Takumi grimaced. He found it really hard to decline Ryousuke, especially if he had sort of a point. He was sure it would be no problem for him to just go home, but that would probably only serve to piss off both brothers. He had been to their home before once, so that wasn't as daunting as it could have been, either. But two arguments weighed heavily against it; one, Takumi didn't want to feel babied because he could take care of himself, thank you very much, and two, he still didn't like the thought of burdening the brothers with his problems. It was his issue to take care of.</p><p>Ryousuke seemed to sense his hesitation. "It would really not be a bother for us. You can also call your father and tell him you will be staying the night. I assume you don't have anything to do tomorrow?"</p><p>This would be the perfect opportunity to decline by claiming that he had a delivery to do. He hadn't; it was Saturday and his dad had already agreed to do the delivery because of the practise meeting.</p><p>Takumi sighed. "I don't."</p><p>"Then it should be okay, right?" Keisuke inquired and gave him a smile that was probably meant to look inviting. Takumi really wanted to bring himself to be angry at him, but failed. He realised that the other was genuinely worried, and that wasn't such a bad feeling, honestly. The same went for Ryousuke. It was actually quite relieving to know that people were looking out for him.</p><p>Also, he <em>was</em> really tired at this point, and the prospect of getting into a bed at least twenty minutes earlier seemed more and more promising with every passing minute.</p><p>"…Fine," he relented. It wasn't like he pretended to be able to win a discussion against the two of them, anyway. He was good at racing; not so much at talking.</p><p>Keisuke grinned and looked very satisfied with himself, and Ryousuke simply nodded curtly. "It's settled, then," he said, which told Takumi that there was no backing out anymore. "I will go and tell Fumihiro and the mechanics that we'll wrap things up for today." He gave Takumi a reassuring smile that made the latter nervous instead because this was <em>Ryousuke</em>, and then turned and walked towards where the rest of the team members stood and pretended they hadn't tried to listen to their conversation.</p><p>Takumi looked to the ground, trying to somewhat hide the angry blush on his face. Only then did he remember the can of coffee that he still held in his hands. He took a sip and had to agree with Keisuke's earlier statement: It was really bitter.</p><p>Keisuke seemed to misinterpret his grimace (or correctly interpret his flushed cheeks), because he said, "Don't mind it too much, Fujiwara. Nobody's going to be pissed at you. We all need a break sometimes. In fact-" he paused to yawn, "I'd really appreciate some sleep right now, too. Aniki knows he won't get good results if he pushes either of us too hard."</p><p>He smiled at Takumi, and the latter thought that his teammate was way too perceptive sometimes.</p><p>"Come on now, it looks like the others are ready to leave." Keisuke tossed his still half-full coffee can into the trash and waved for Takumi to hurry up. Suppressing a sigh, Takumi gave up on trying to down his coffee and not be so wasteful. He hurried after Keisuke and hoped quietly that the latter's words had been true.</p><p> </p><p>Ryousuke glanced into the rear-view mirror for at least the third time to check if Fujiwara was still following. He was, of course. Despite his initial stubbornness and repeated refusal, he wouldn't back out of it now, not like that at least. If Ryousuke's estimation of his character was correct, anyway. There were still many mysteries about Fujiwara's character – mysteries that Ryousuke hoped to unravel eventually.</p><p>Still, he had an inkling about why Fujiwara had so vehemently denied not being in top form at first. He never struck Ryousuke as a liar, but he <em>was</em> amazingly stubborn – Keisuke had been right about that. And apparently, he didn't like inconveniencing people. Ryousuke sighed quietly. He could empathise with the notion, but he was not going to allow Fujiwara to put his own health at risk over concerns like that. He needed him to be in top form. And for the sake of his conscience, he needed to make sure that his young ace driver was happy and healthy. He cursed himself for not paying more attention to Keisuke's concerns earlier, but to his defence, his younger brother had long been a bit overly touchy on the subject of Fujiwara.</p><p>Ryousuke was pretty certain that Keisuke must have planned the turn of events on this evening from the very beginning. He wouldn't be surprised if he had left the house this afternoon with the set intention of getting Fujiwara to stay with them. It was amusing, really. Keisuke certainly was slyer than most people gave him credit for.</p><p>Indefinitely less amusing was the fact that Fujiwara really did look shockingly exhausted lately. <em>'Perhaps it is my fault, after all,'</em> thought Ryousuke.</p><p>Yet another glance into the rear-view mirror told him that the 86 was still following. Keisuke must be trailing somewhere behind, wisely keeping a bit of a distance. Chances were that they were both angry at him. Keisuke certainly was, and rightfully so. He should have believed him when he suggested that something was wrong.</p><p>Time for Ryousuke to rectify his mistake and figure out a long-lasting solution to this problem, as he was rather certain it would not simply be resolved by having Fujiwara spend one night away from his own bed.</p><p> </p><p>To be fair, Takumi had seen the Takahashis' home before. He'd been here exactly once, since Ryousuke had insisted on discussing a course tape with him and Keisuke together one time. Takumi had felt extremely out of place, not because of the house (well, to be honest, also a little bit because of the house), but because he didn't have much to add to the conversation. He had basically ended up a spectator to an animated discussion between the brothers that just went to show him how freakily intense they got about racing. That had been back shortly after Project.D had really started off, and it almost intimidated Takumi into regretting his decision to join them. Ryousuke must have noticed because he didn't attempt the same thing again. After that, he had always simply handed the course tapes to Takumi so he could watch them by himself.</p><p>The memory of that one time was what ran through Takumi's mind as he got out of his car and glanced up at the illuminated windows of the house, which to him still looked too big for one family to live in. That was probably just a matter of what one was used to, he mused.</p><p>Ryousuke had arrived before him and was waiting for him on the path leading to the door already, so Takumi decided not to spend too much time reminiscing right now. This situation was already weird and couldn't really be compared to any experience he had before. He trudged over to Ryousuke just as the sound of a third engine disturbed the quiet air and Keisuke pulled into the driveway. It had been very considerate of him to try and not make Takumi feel like he was being escorted, the latter thought dryly. If only Keisuke could decide between either being considerate or getting into Takumi's space all the time; that would be a lot less confusing and bothersome.</p><p>"You didn't need to wait for me," said Keisuke as he walked towards them and Ryousuke turned to unlock the door.</p><p>Takumi suddenly wondered if their parents were home, since the house was brightly lit. He hadn't met them before and only understood that they were both very busy people. His unvoiced question was immediately answered by Ryousuke, who said, "Come in. We are alone tonight."</p><p>"…Thank you." As Takumi slipped out of his shoes in the hallway, he wasn't so sure anymore whether he could actually catch even one minute of sleep while alone with the two brothers in a far too large home. He was supposed to be on his way back right now.</p><p>…That actually reminded him of something. "I still have to tell my dad that I'm staying here."</p><p>"The phone's over there," Keisuke said matter-of-factly. "We'll be in the living room, yeah? You remember where that was?" He barely waited for Takumi's nod and brushed past him, following his brother. Takumi looked after them for a moment before finally picking up the phone. While it dialled, he kept wondering about the two. They were probably going to talk about him while he was on the phone, judging by how fast they had disappeared. He didn't have more time to be disgruntled about that as his dad finally picked up the phone, and now he had to worry more about explaining the situation to him without making it sound weird.</p><p> </p><p>Keisuke was about to enter the living room and drop down on one of the couches, completely exhausted, but instead he found himself following the sounds of his brother rummaging around in the kitchen. It had surprised him a bit just how quickly Ryousuke went along with his plans. The only explanation he had was that he did it because this was about Fujiwara. Ryousuke had a weak spot for Fujiwara, everyone could see that.</p><p>Well, maybe not <em>everyone</em>, but Keisuke certainly did. His brother had probably long been waiting for a good opportunity to invite Fujiwara over again.</p><p>Then again, <em>good opportunities</em> looked a bit different. Fujiwara was completely on edge, as evidenced by the way he almost <em>flinched</em> when Keisuke brushed past him in the hallway. And, frankly put, he looked like shit. Keisuke wasn't being dramatic when he said that the other looked like he was about to drop unconscious on the spot.</p><p>Keisuke scoffed. <em>That damn idiot.</em> He should be smart enough to know that he couldn't pull this off much longer. Especially without the rest of the team noticing.</p><p>…To be fair, it had taken them a good while to notice. Keisuke had been paying much more attention to Fujiwara, of course he had; after all, he always needed to know what to keep up with. He was furious about the fact that Fujiwara apparently didn't take care of himself. He was also furious about the fact that he had been the only one to notice.</p><p>Keisuke crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. "So," he began, "Quite a mess, huh?"</p><p>His brother turned around halfway and sighed. "Certainly." He seemed to have nothing more to say after that, which was quite rare for him. Keisuke watched him sink into deep thoughts judging by the mild frown on his face. Fujiwara could still be heard talking quietly on the phone in the hallway. He was probably having a hard time explaining himself right now. Despite the circumstances of him sort of bringing this upon himself, Keisuke felt sorry for him.</p><p>"This has been going on for <em>weeks</em>," he hissed at his infuriatingly silent brother. "We could have talked to him about this weeks ago instead of letting it get this much worse first!"</p><p>More silence. Then, "I'm aware. I assumed the problem would resolve itself, which was obviously a miscalculation."</p><p>That was probably the closest thing to an <em>'I'm sorry'</em> that Ryousuke was capable of. And damn right, he should be sorry. The worst thing that could have happened was for Fujiwara to get into an accident. Judging by the solemn and deeply contemplative look on Ryousuke's face, he was aware of that.</p><p>Keisuke suddenly felt far too weary and drained to be angry at his brother anymore. Fujiwara could have gone and gotten himself killed. The only reason why he hadn't was probably that he was just such a fucking good driver. It was mind-boggling, really. In Keisuke's eyes, Fujiwara was obviously a careful person and not a complete idiot either, so why couldn't he see that he really needed more sleep? Even Keisuke knew that, and he was quick to admit that he wasn't a prime example for having a great sense of self-preservation.</p><p>He wished that Fujiwara could just listen to him for once. He just didn't want him to mess up and hurt himself, damn it. It was only natural to think that way, wasn't it?</p><p>…There was actually no point in denying it. If Ryousuke had a soft spot for Fujiwara, then so did he. And that fact made the situation all the more unbearable.</p><p> </p><p>Takumi hung up the phone and stared at it for another moment or two. His old man had accepted his explanation with little pause, a fact that worried him. He would definitely get an earful about it once he got home. A few searching looks, at the very least.</p><p>He finally sighed and started to trudge over to where he thought he remembered the living room to be. At this point, it was getting difficult for him to keep his eyes open. He hoped that he could at least go to bed soon.</p><p>Through the open door to the kitchen he could hear the brothers quietly and animatedly talking to each other. After a moment of consideration, he decided against joining them. He wasn't even sure whether he was meant to be part of that conversation. Heck, he couldn't even be sure whether they were even talking about him. It would feel rude to intrude on them, so he decided to heed Keisuke's original words and wait for them in the living room.</p><p>Takumi sat down on one of the couches and immediately found himself hit with the weirdness of this situation again. He was angry at himself for getting himself into this, for not being able to shake off Keisuke and especially for agreeing to their idea just to get them to stop hounding him. That he didn't even dare to argue with Ryousuke was beside the point; that was just a fact of life.</p><p>Keisuke as the younger brother obviously didn't have such inhibition, if Takumi interpreted the muffled discussion coming from the kitchen correctly. They were definitely talking about him, no doubt about that anymore. He hoped they would be done soon because he really only wanted to go to sleep at this point. If he didn't pay attention, he could probably doze off right here and now.</p><p>Leaning his head back and sinking deeper into the couch, he listened to the noise coming from the kitchen. If he was going to have at least some luck tonight, they wouldn't try to argue about his sleeping habits with him before he got the opportunity to take a nap. It would be foolish to assume that Keisuke was even halfway done with that discussion. Jeez, he had really seemed angry. There was really no need to freak out about it that much. Takumi knew how to deal with driving while tired, a clear perk of always having to get up at four in the morning to deliver tofu. He knew what he was doing. He couldn't afford to skip practice.</p><p>But now that they were done anyway, he could allow himself some rest. He yawned. How long were they going to keep talking? Oh well, as long as they were still busy, Takumi could close his heavy eyes just for a little bit. He just needed to watch out to look awake and well when the brothers came back. Just a little rest, nothing wrong with that…</p><p>Just a little…</p><p> </p><p>"Aniki, look at that! Can you believe it?"</p><p>Indeed, Ryousuke was looking; and he couldn't suppress a little disbelieving chuckle. They both stood in front of the couch that Fujiwara was now halfway draped across, eyes closed and snoozing peacefully.</p><p>"I didn't realise he was <em>this</em> tired…" Keisuke added quietly. Ryousuke had to agree. Seeing Fujiwara black out in the next quiet spot he could find was a bit startling. That position had to be uncomfortable.</p><p>"Do we wake him?"</p><p>"That seems redundant to me." Ryousuke had considered it, but disturbing Fujiwara now probably wouldn't do them much good. Letting him catch some much-needed sleep here on the couch appeared to be the best option. "Just let him be."</p><p>Keisuke let out a quiet laugh. "How anticlimactic. And here I was expecting to have to argue with him first."</p><p>"Maybe you already exhausted him enough that he decided to spare himself the trouble," Ryousuke commented and earned a light punch to the shoulder for that.</p><p>"Oi. It's not my fault that he's too stubborn to listen to good advice," Keisuke huffed, a smile playing around his lips.</p><p>Ryousuke also smiled, but truth was that no amount of teasing could fool either of them over how worried they still were. Realising that, neither of them said anything for a few moments as they stared at Fujiwara's sleeping form, unsure what to do.</p><p>"…Oh well, he's gonna get a crick in his neck like that, isn't he?" Keisuke spoke up. Ryousuke watched with raised brows as he walked over to Fujiwara and shifted him into a sleeping position that looked less uncomfortable.</p><p>Upon hearing his brother's quiet laugh, Keisuke shot him a small glare. "What?" His cheeks looked a bit pink, Ryousuke noted. Interesting.</p><p>"Maybe a pillow and a blanket would also help," he offered instead of remarking on Keisuke's flustered state.</p><p>Keisuke nodded. "Right. I'll get the ones from the guest room. They were intended for him anyway."</p><p>Ryousuke watched bemusedly as his brother disappeared into the hallway, eager to hide his embarrassment. No wonder that he was always so touchy on the topic of Fujiwara.</p><p>Speaking of Fujiwara: Even Keisuke's manipulations of his sleeping form hadn't managed to wake him up, which was certainly fortunate. His break was well-deserved and should go undisturbed for a few hours. And everything else just had to wait until morning.</p><p>In the end, Ryousuke couldn't bring himself to resist brushing a stray strand of hair out of Fujiwara's eyes. His sleeping face looked so serene and he barely reacted to the touch. Ryousuke lingered for another moment until he heard his brother's steps return.</p><p>It was a shame that Fujiwara didn't know.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which things actually do get a bit kinky in the end.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Of all the things I have ever written, this takes the cake as the most difficult. I mean, casually writing certain parts of it on my phone was a breeze. But tweaking and editing it until I felt like it could be published without being a complete messy embarrassment? A nightmare. I was brooding over that certain scene for three entire days. </p><p>But at least now my friend whom I told about it can't call me a coward anymore! Ha.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>It took Takumi a good while to wake up from the deepest and longest sleep he had had in a while.</p><p>The first thing that broke through his tired bleariness was the scent of an unfamiliar laundry detergent. It took him a few moments of confusion until he realised that the pillow he was currently burying his nose in was not his own. Then he needed a few more moments to remember why that might be the case. He was not, in fact, in his own bed at home. His shoulder was pressing into the backrest of a couch, and he shifted a little under the covers. Everything came back very slowly. He had been invited by the Takahashi brothers, and he had quite obviously fallen asleep right there on the couch. How did that happen? And why the hell didn't they wake him? Judging from the light falling in through the windows, the sun had long risen.</p><p>Takumi buried his nose in the pillow again and groaned quietly. Despite knowing that it was morning and that he should get up, he still felt very sleepy. He would stay here for a few more minutes, after all, no-one knew he was awake yet.</p><p>He was in the process of dozing off again when he heard quiet, light footsteps approach. Despite how carefully the person was walking, the sounds were enough to immediately pull Takumi back from the edge of slumber. He opened one eye and caught sight of Keisuke trying to sneak past the couch, obviously trying not to wake him.</p><p>"I'm awake," Takumi informed him lowly, and Keisuke stopped dead in his tracks and looked at him, seemingly caught off-guard.</p><p>"Go back to sleep," was his answer.</p><p>Takumi squinted at him angrily. As if he was going to continue sleeping peacefully on the couch knowing that Keisuke was already up and walking around!</p><p>He slowly sat up, the blanket sliding off his shoulders, and yawned. "How late is it?"</p><p>"Too early." Keisuke stared at him with furrowed brows, looking a bit tired himself. "Was the couch too uncomfortable? You could always still go to the guest bed, you know."</p><p>Hearing that, Takumi became suddenly and startlingly aware of another thing that had bothered him. Where did that blanket and pillow come from? He desperately tried to fight off the mental image of one of the brothers – his imagination couldn't decide which one – propping his head up with a pillow. A hot wave of embarrassment washed through him: Now there was <em>no way</em> of him going back to sleep.</p><p>"I'm not tired anymore," he insisted, probably bright red in the face. He shoved the blanket off his legs and got up, ignoring Keisuke's protests. For a moment he thought about asking about breakfast, but he just as quickly discarded the thought and decided to go home as soon as possible. At least the brothers had gotten their wish and couldn't complain anymore.</p><p>Except that Keisuke obviously could. "Where do you think you're going?"</p><p>Takumi turned around, already half on his way towards the front door. "Home?" For some reason what was supposed to be a decisive answer ended up sounding a lot like a question.</p><p>"Like that?" Keisuke asked incredulously. "You can't be serious, Fujiwara. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're trying to run away right now."</p><p>Takumi froze. "Why would I be doing that?"</p><p>"<em>You</em> tell me." Keisuke crossed his arms and smirked at him, which caused Takumi to go through a myriad of emotions in the course of a few seconds. He pretended that the most prevalent one, the one that sent a sudden wave of heat through his stomach, was annoyance and not in fact something else entirely.</p><p>"I'm <em>not</em> running away. I just don't want to give you any extra trouble," Takumi insisted, to no avail.</p><p>"Nah, Fujiwara, come on. You've slept on our couch; now let us at least give you some breakfast before you leave. Or are we that terrible?"</p><p><em>'Yes!'</em> Takumi thought, somewhat desperately. "Of course not," he said.</p><p>Keisuke gave him a smug grin. "Good. It's a deal, then." With that, he turned around and walked away from the front door, expecting Takumi to follow.</p><p>With a defeated sigh, Takumi obliged. He was still too tired for another argument with Keisuke; and he didn't want to be rude, either.</p><p>To his surprise, Ryousuke was already sitting in the kitchen and drinking a cup of coffee. If Takumi wasn't completely mistaken, he also looked a bit tired – but thinking about it, he believed that he once heard Ryousuke state that he wasn't much of a morning person, either.</p><p>"Good morning, Fujiwara," he greeted, eyes lingering on Takumi for a moment. "Did we wake you?"</p><p>What he meant was probably "Did Keisuke wake you," judging by the slightly scolding look he threw his brother's way. The latter shrugged, just as Takumi denied the fact. "No, I was already awake."</p><p>"I hope you had a pleasant sleep."</p><p>That was once again a harmless question, but Takumi was abruptly reminded of yesterday's discussion, and that the topic was probably far from forgotten. "Yeah," he said quickly, "Thank you…" He averted his eyes under both their stares and developed a sudden interest in the handle of the refrigerator door.</p><p>"Seems like you really needed it, considering that you fell asleep on the couch," Keisuke stated drily. Takumi had to bite his lip in order to keep himself from starting an argument, because Keisuke was right and had been right all along. He had been really, really tired yesterday and who knows what could have happened had he pushed on.</p><p>"I'm sorry," he said, bowing his head, "Thank you for letting me stay over." They were doing too much for him, he thought. Even now that he was struggling to keep up with all the things happening in his life, they were still giving him their support. Takumi questioned if he was even worth it all.</p><p>"There is no need to worry about that," Ryousuke said and set down his cup of coffee with a quiet clink of porcelain against wooden surface. "We are happy to have you here."</p><p>The way he put emphasis on the <em>'we'</em> startled Takumi a bit. He reflexively looked over at Keisuke, who was currently leaning against the kitchen counter and shooting his brother a small glare. "Yeah," he said a bit belatedly and looked back at Takumi with an odd expression on his face, "It's better to know that you're here than to wonder whether you've landed in a ditch somewhere along the way."</p><p>Despite how he had behaved earlier, he was still angry, Takumi realised. Averting his eyes, he wondered if there was any coming back from this. Keisuke was known to hold grudges, and he was probably not going to forget about Takumi threatening their entire progress by losing his concentration.</p><p>Noticing his dejectedness, Ryousuke said, "Don't understand this the wrong way, Fujiwara. I don't question your ability to take care of yourself-" Keisuke 'tsk'ed at that, "-However, I do worry about your sleeping habits. I believe that you understand why that is the case."</p><p>"Yeah, I guess…" Takumi replied for lack of a better answer. He hated the look on Ryousuke's face right now, very understanding to the point of looking fake. That was probably a medical student habit shining through.</p><p>Ryousuke hummed thoughtfully, his coffee going ignored for now. "Do you often not sleep well?"</p><p>Shrugging helplessly, Takumi replied, "I sleep normally, I think."</p><p>"Hm," made Ryousuke, continued to look at Takumi and took a sip of his coffee. Takumi stared at the cup, wishing he had a coffee, too. He was still tired.</p><p>"Normally, but not enough, huh?" Keisuke said. He had rummaged around with the pots and in the cupboards and now slid a bowl of miso soup towards Takumi. "Here. Eat something."</p><p>His tone didn't leave much room for refusal, but Takumi was actually feeling hungry, and the soup smelled quite nice. It tasted quite nice, too. He wondered if one of the brothers had cooked it, but he didn't dare to ask.</p><p>As Takumi ate, he felt their eyes on him. He squirmed a bit on his seat and hoped that they would move on to a different topic, but of course he had no such luck.</p><p>"I hope you know that we can't let you continue like that," Keisuke said after a while, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. Takumi set the bowl and the chopsticks down and stared blankly at the wooden surface of the table as Keisuke added, "You're not just tired, you're completely exhausted. Last night was clear proof of that. What's going on with you?"</p><p>When Takumi didn't answer, Ryousuke asked, "Is there something troubling you?" Takumi's eyes shot up and met Ryousuke's for a second before the younger had to look away.</p><p><em>Yes. No. Yes.</em> How was he supposed to explain himself? Maybe it was better to say nothing at all. After all, it wasn't like Takumi was <em>troubled</em>, exactly. It was just that sitting here, under the scrutiny of the two people he probably wanted to disappoint the least, Takumi suddenly felt the weight of the expectations on his shoulders. He had gone most of his life until now without anyone really expecting anything of him, and now pretty much the entire street racing community and maybe some people beyond that had their eyes on him.</p><p>If he was honest with himself, that knowledge was pretty darn terrifying.</p><p> </p><p>Ryousuke could not shake off the worry he felt while watching the miniscule changes in Fujiwara's body language as the latter got more closed-off with every new question asked. It was quite obvious that he found the topic uncomfortable, but Ryousuke couldn't give up trying to get to the bottom of the problem. Despite having slept an acceptable number of hours, Fujiwara had dark circles under his eyes and still looked concerningly exhausted. Earlier Ryousuke had caught him looking at his cup of coffee longingly, but he didn't offer him any. With sleeping problems, the first thing he should do was to monitor his caffeine intake.</p><p>Caffeine was certainly not the root of the problem, though. Maybe something had happened at Fujiwara's workplace? Ryousuke knew that the younger of his two aces had a job; after all, the training schedules had to be arranged around that. It was with a moving company, he believed to remember. However, he had heard nothing from Fujiwara about his schedule changing in any way, so it seemed unlikely to be the reason. Unless Fujiwara had been laid off and was worried because of that…</p><p>Maybe he had financial problems, then? If so, it would explain his silence on the topic. That would certainly be a tricky situation, since it seemed doubtful that Fujiwara would accept any financial assistance as far as he could assess his character…</p><p>Ryousuke was so caught up in his train of thoughts that he almost missed his brother speaking up again. "Look, Fujiwara," Keisuke said and leaned forward in his chair to get the younger's attention, "There's no need to keep this from us. We won't judge, okay? We all go through some shit every once in a while. And it won't do shit if you keep it to yourself and don't let others try to help you." He threw a little glance in Ryousuke's direction before speaking on. "We're not trying to mess with you or something. Look, we sort of depend on you, alright? You can depend on us, too. If you just need a break, we can give you a break. But we need to <em>know."</em></p><p>It was certainly unusual to hear Keisuke say things like that, and in the way that he said it, too. Ryousuke would have thought that his brother's temper would get in his way like it often did when he was really invested in something, but it seemed as if he had come to some sort of deeper understanding of the situation that still eluded Ryousuke for now. At the very least, Keisuke's words had the desired effect: Fujiwara abruptly raised his head again and stared at him, eyes widening by a fraction.</p><p>Then he said, voice tense, "I can't afford to take a break."</p><p>Ryousuke found himself at a loss for words, wondering whether he was now getting a glimpse of the Fujiwara underneath all his usual calmness. It reminded him of himself, oddly enough. In the short moment of stunned silence that followed the statement, Ryousuke came to realise that there was a larger problem at hand that he had been ignorant of.</p><p>Keisuke, on the other hand, seemed to have picked up on part of it a while ago already. He was the one to break the silence, and when Ryousuke looked over at him, his expression wasn't exactly a shocked one. It wasn't as calm as before though, either. "Are you even listening to yourself right now?" he asked, audibly distraught. "Are you trying to tell us that you plan to continue running yourself into the ground just because you think that you don't have the time to take care of your own needs? For fuck's sake, Fujiwara, I know I told you to take racing seriously, but I didn't mean by that that you're supposed to give up your health! It doesn't work that way!" He was almost at the point of shouting by now and shot a desperate look at Ryousuke, wordlessly pleading him to say something, too.</p><p>Fujiwara, on the other hand, seemed to have shrunken further into his chair with every word Keisuke had said. He was looking down at the table again and mumbled something to himself that Ryousuke didn't catch.</p><p>"Fujiwara," he said calmly to get his attention, but the latter didn't look up and kept wringing his hands instead. Ryousuke reached across the table to lightly tap the back of Fujiwara's palm, and he jumped a little. He still said nothing, however.</p><p>"No-one will think lesser of you for also thinking of yourself sometimes," Ryousuke continued, trying to sound more collected than he felt at the moment. This was certainly a wake-up call for him. He could very much understand Keisuke's reaction; in fact, he felt the same sort of horror that had bled into his brother's voice earlier. They both cared for Fujiwara, that much was certain. And now here they were, coming face-to-face with the realisation that they actually had no clue about what had really been going on with their teammate.</p><p>Quite a sobering experience that was; coming to terms with the fact that you had been blind to the needs of someone you cared for that much.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>'No-one will think lesser of you for also thinking of yourself sometimes.'</em>
</p><p>That was nothing Takumi would have expected to ever hear from someone like Ryousuke. He was the one who depended the most on the project running smoothly and staying within the planned timeframe since he also had his residency to worry about.</p><p>"But there is no time for that…" he replied, hating how weak his voice sounded. He wasn't going to convince anyone of anything like that, much less Keisuke and Ryousuke of the fact that he could handle the situation by himself. He was pretty certain that the brothers had other things to do than look after him, and he didn't want them to be doing that. He had his life, they had theirs. The only touching point between them was Project.D, anyways.</p><p>That, of course, made it all the more important for Takumi to get the situation under control if the brothers didn't want him to race like this anymore. As much as they all lived their separate lives, Takumi usually enjoyed the time he got to spend around them. Not like this, though. There was zero enjoyment in knowing that you messed up.</p><p>Takumi tried to decipher the expression on Ryousuke's face, as always to no avail. His voice, however, sounded oddly gentle when he said, "Of course there is. No matter what else might be going on, your wellbeing is always an utmost priority."</p><p>A strange emotion ran through Takumi upon hearing those words, causing mostly rampant confusion. It was… odd, to say the least, this warmth pooling in his belly. The meaning of the sentence was enough to send Takumi reeling, but the fact that it was being said by <em>Ryousuke</em> of all people added another layer to it. It was hard to get used to the thought that someone – especially someone like Ryousuke – would be willing to make such accommodations for him.</p><p>The feeling only got worse when Keisuke added in, "You do know how important you are to this whole operation, yeah?"</p><p>He threw Takumi a pointed look, and the latter realised that he was actually expecting an answer to that question. "Uh…"</p><p>After the silence dragged on for a few more moments, Keisuke scoffed. "I don't know what I was even expecting, honestly…" he mumbled. Takumi caught sight of a small smile on Ryousuke's face after the exchange was over, but it was gone just as fast and might have been just a trick of the light. Keisuke, on the other hand, all but glared at Takumi again.</p><p>"I'm somehow getting the feeling that sleep is not the only thing you're not getting enough of."</p><p>Takumi furrowed his brows and stared at him. "I- What are you-" He was busy enough stuttering his way through an answer that he didn't notice Ryousuke moving, and therefore the hand suddenly covering his own caught him off-guard.</p><p>When he looked up, there was an odd expression in Ryousuke's face. His eyes seemed to pierce right through him while the rest of his expression still seemed guarded and neutral. "I've been considering something just now, Fujiwara," he said, flustering Takumi further when his thumb started to stroke the back of his palm, subtly enough that the movement was barely visible. Takumi could definitely <em>feel</em> it very well, though. He met Ryousuke's stare and searched for a hint that told him this was just a joke, but he found none. Nevertheless, he did not pull his hand back.</p><p>Ryousuke appeared to take note of that because he said, "It might be a slightly… <em>unusual</em> approach, but I am positive that it could potentially help with the problem at hand. However, your approval is vitally important for it. Do you promise me that you will tell us if you feel uncomfortable about anything?"</p><p>Takumi blinked at him, trying to process the meaning behind his words. Keisuke appeared to be doing the same thing, giving his brother an uncomprehending stare.</p><p>"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded to know, just as Takumi said, "I don't even know what you mean."</p><p>Ryousuke chuckled and answered, "I'd prefer to demonstrate rather than tell," which caused Keisuke to throw him such a scandalised look that Takumi almost laughed at his face. Only almost, because he was currently likely thinking the same thing as Keisuke, and that was quite honestly a <em>bit</em> too much for him.</p><p>"Aniki," Keisuke began slowly as Takumi's face took on a continuously darker shade of red, "Do you know what that sounds like?" Takumi felt very thankful that he took it upon himself to ask that question, since there was no way that he would have found words for it that weren't way too straightforward.</p><p>Ryousuke paused, looked at his brother, looked at Takumi (whose face just about felt like a radiator by now), and started laughing. "My apologies. I didn't mean to make it sound so suggestive," he said then, still with an amused smile playing around his lips. "I did not have any sexual acts in mind."</p><p>Hearing him say that made Takumi feel even more embarrassed. He heard Keisuke curse under his breath (something that sounded like <em>"For fuck's sake, aniki, you can't be serious"</em>).</p><p>"Uhm," Takumi said, voice surprisingly steady, "Does it help if I say that I'm feeling sort of uncomfortable right now?"</p><p>Another moment of silence, and then Keisuke started laughing somewhat hysterically. "Fujiwara, you're amazing," he forced out between bursts of laughter, "I can't deal with this. <em>'I'm feeling sort of uncomfortable right now.'</em> Incredible."</p><p>Through his brother's laughter, Ryousuke said, "Yes, that's a good start. Again, my apologies." Then he glared at Keisuke, who still seemed unable to calm down. What followed was a short exclamation of pain from the latter before he ultimately forced himself to stop laughing. Takumi could only assume that Ryousuke had kicked his brother's leg underneath the table.</p><p>He suddenly could feel a small smile twitch around his own mouth at the sheer absurdity of the situation. Putting aside all the awkwardness (although that felt almost impossible), it was sort of refreshing to see the brothers like this for once. They seemed a lot more open and relaxed here within their home. Outside, they both were rather private people, and Takumi still didn't know that much about them even with how much time he was spending around them lately.</p><p>"What I was meaning to say," Ryousuke interrupted his musings, shooting a warning glance at Keisuke who wisely remained silent this time, "Is that I would like you to stay for another night, if it's not a problem for you. I'm sure that Keisuke wouldn't be opposed to it, either." When he glanced at his brother this time, it was again with that odd expression that Takumi couldn't read. Keisuke seemed to understand it perfectly fine, though. He also seemed to have already recovered from the events moments ago as he met his brother's eyes and some silent exchange seemed to pass between them.</p><p>"I'm not," Keisuke said, keeping eye contact with Ryousuke for another second before looking back at Takumi, "I like having you here. And I want to see you get better again, so I'd say we give whatever aniki has in mind a try." He paused. "If you're fine with it," he added like an afterthought.</p><p>Takumi stared at him before being abruptly reminded of the fact that Ryousuke's hand was still covering his by the other starting to move his thumb again. Takumi bit his lip and closed his eyes for a moment, pretty convinced that this confrontation with two unusually affectionate Takahashi brothers would eventually end up killing him.</p><p>Affectionate, and caring. Only now did it actually occur to Takumi that he had probably always underestimated their concern for him. He was, quite honestly, not sure how to feel about that revelation. What he was pretty sure about, though, was the fact that leaving now felt like an awkward choice. He had no clue what Ryousuke was up to – but honestly, if it went like everything else Ryousuke did, it would lead to the desired results. Whatever those were. That Takumi slept properly, probably. They were really invested in that issue, weren't they?</p><p>Takumi raised his head and glanced at Keisuke, who was looking at him expectantly (he also seemed to still be a bit flustered for some reason, but at least that meant Takumi wasn't the only one). "I mean, sure, but I don't even have a change of clothes with me," Takumi pointed out in response to the earlier question.</p><p>Keisuke easily waved his argument aside, "That's not really an issue. Either you drive home to fetch some, or you borrow some of mine. Whatever you prefer."</p><p>"Huh, okay," said Takumi, once again distracted by Ryousuke's actions. The other finally retracted his hand, but Takumi was almost certain that he knew <em>exactly</em> that Takumi sort of mourned the loss of contact at this point.</p><p>"We can certainly accommodate for your needs, so there's no reason to worry," Ryousuke said as if nothing had happened. "You will stay, then?"</p><p>Takumi awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I guess? If you want that?"</p><p>Ryousuke chuckled. "I suppose that for now, I can be thankful that you keep insisting on putting others' wishes above your own. Who knows whether we could convince you to stay otherwise." He gave Takumi a thoughtful look. "I do hope though that we are not pressuring you too much. You can decline if you are unsure, you know."</p><p>"Of course I'm unsure," Takumi muttered a bit indignantly, "You still haven't explained much to me."</p><p>He watched as another amused smile crossed Ryousuke's face and wondered once again whether the other was maybe just poking fun at him for not understanding sometimes. The only thing that placated him a bit was the fact that Keisuke seemed pretty much just as clueless as him.</p><p>"He's like that all the time, in case you haven't noticed yet," the younger of the brothers helpfully informed him. "He'll probably decide to stop talking in riddles soon enough. If not…" He glanced at Ryousuke and grinned, "Well, then you can still walk out."</p><p>His brother chuckled again, not seeming in any way insulted by those statements. "That is certainly also an option. As I mentioned already, it is important that you feel comfortable with the situation."</p><p>That sounded reasonable, at least. And it was not like Takumi didn't trust them to listen to him, so he said, "I guess it's worth a try."</p><p>Ryousuke smiled. "Thank you. I'm certain that we will make some sort of progress at the very least." And Takumi wasn't sure whether it was just his rampant imagination, but something in Ryousuke's tone of voice seemed to have shifted just now. He couldn't put his finger on it, and he couldn't say if it just had to do with what the other had said. Whatever it was, he figured that he was probably going to find out.</p><p>Then Keisuke got his attention by clearing his throat. He nodded towards the bowl standing on the table, it and its contents having been completely forgotten by Takumi. "Your soup is getting cold."</p><p>"…Right," Takumi mumbled, slightly confused, and picked up the chopsticks pretty much automatically. He honestly wondered whether he was <em>actually</em> going to get <em>any</em> explanations by <em>anyone </em>today.</p><p> </p><p>If there was anything Takumi had always been good at, it was to go with the flow and just go along with the stuff thrown his way most of the time.</p><p>Thinking back on it, that trait was probably to blame for the fact that he now found himself sitting in the Takahashis' living room again with a glass of water clutched in his hands, his eyelids heavy with lingering tiredness, and his mind running wild. He had asked to take a shower before anything else happened, and so here he was now with his hair still damp and smelling like someone else's shampoo (since of course he hadn't brought his own) and dressed in clothes that were mostly a bit too big for him. All of that was honestly not that weird. What was <em>actually </em>weird were the circumstances. At this point, he had already been spending more consecutive time around the Takahashi brothers than ever before, and he still had no clue what exactly Ryousuke was planning.</p><p>Keisuke, who was sitting on the couch opposite to him, seemed to have a better idea of that at this point. Takumi assumed that they had discussed it while he was in the shower. The reason he thought that was Keisuke shooting him odd glances now and then, at times contemplative and at other times unsettlingly anticipating. The truth was that Keisuke had always had the ability to make Takumi a bit nervous, just like his brother, and the situation didn't help the matter at all. Takumi was very close to trying and asking him what the deal was, but he missed his chance by Ryousuke re-joining them and sitting down next to him.</p><p>Guess he was going to find out soon enough, after all.</p><p>Ryousuke was silent for a while, giving Takumi ample time to adjust to the fact that he was actually sitting pretty close to him right now. It almost seemed as if he didn't know where to start now that everything was set up.</p><p>Just as Takumi had thought that, Ryousuke spoke up as if to prove him wrong. "I have to say, I admire you for being able to go along with my whims without even knowing what they consist of."</p><p>Takumi glanced at him, trying to assess whether he was being made fun of. As far as he could judge, however, Ryousuke was being honest. He had to look away again under the other's contemplative stare. Before he could think of an answer, Keisuke said, "He's been doing that for the last few months, and so have I. It's definitely not new that you tell people what to do without bothering to explain why they are supposed to do that." He sounded more amused than actually criticising. Takumi imagined that he had probably been living with that since his childhood and couldn't help but smile a little at the thought.</p><p>Ryousuke chuckled. "I have yet to give you a reason to regret going along, don't I?" He paused for a moment, considering. "Then again, it might be a good idea to be forward with my intentions for this." Directing his attention back at Takumi, he said, "I already stated that I want to help you. Are you willing to accept that help?"</p><p>Takumi swallowed. "I think so?" he replied hesitantly, shifting nervously where he was sitting and finally setting down the glass he had been clinging to. "But I still don't know what you plan to do. Will I have to do something?"</p><p>"Nothing too complicated," said Ryousuke and smiled cryptically, "And that is exactly the point. I agree with Keisuke's earlier assessment that your sleeping schedule is only part of the problem, and I believe that I might be able to help with that." He paused and reached for Takumi's hands, which the latter was wringing in his lap now that he wasn't holding on to anything anymore. Ryousuke covered them with his own hand and Takumi stilled, watching attentively as the other's expression became more serious. "Do you trust me?"</p><p>The question caught Takumi a bit off-guard. What exactly was happening right now; and what, please, led Ryousuke to ask such a question? "Yes…?" Takumi answered, once again way too hesitantly to be proud of.</p><p>Ryousuke's serious expression remained. "Was that a question or an answer?"</p><p>Takumi cleared his throat and met Ryousuke's eyes. "An answer," he said steadily. "What do you want me to do?"</p><p>Only now did Ryousuke's smile return, along with a look in his eyes that Takumi couldn't decipher. "Thank you," he said softly. "What I hope for you to do is to follow the commands I will give you." When he saw the look on Takumi's face after he had said that, he laughed a little. "I warned you that my approach would be unusual. But don't worry; I don't want this to be demeaning or embarrassing for you. Will you hear me out on my reasoning?"</p><p>Takumi stared back at him, stunned for a little moment. He glanced over at Keisuke, who was just sitting on the other couch and watching intently. That didn't exactly help the situation if Takumi was honest. Nonetheless, he looked back at Ryousuke and nodded.</p><p>Ryousuke actually seemed a bit relieved for a second, although he hid it well. His smile got a bit softer, and his voice a bit quieter; more soothing. "Well, if my conclusions are correct, you are afraid of letting others down; to the point that you have convinced yourself that you can't allow yourself any rest anymore."</p><p>"I-" Takumi began, but Ryousuke held up his hand, motioning for him to stay quiet.</p><p>"What I believe you need," he said lowly, "Is for someone to take that perceived burden off your shoulders for a while."</p><p>Before Takumi could react to this revelation, Keisuke beat him to it once again: "To put it differently: If you aren't able to think of yourself anymore, then we will take over for you."<br/>
Takumi couldn't help staring at him, as he had never heard him talk in quite such a tone, or even just imagined him being able to sound that way. He wasn't sure what to think about anymore. There were so many things happening today that he would have never imagined. Like – the Takahashi brothers actually paying attention to him beyond what he was doing on the road. More than that, them being worried about him. And then- <em>this.</em></p><p>"Fujiwara," Ryousuke's voice tore him from his jumbled thoughts, "Focus on me for now."</p><p>Takumi kept looking at Keisuke for another second until the latter nodded with a small smile on his face that was obviously meant as encouragement. Still, Takumi hadn't gotten rid of his hesitance as he directed his attention back at Ryousuke next to him.</p><p>Ryousuke seemed aware of that fact but appeared to be sure about his strategy. "Just relax and listen closely to what I say. Can you do that for me?" he asked in that quiet, soothing voice again that oddly gave Takumi goosebumps down his neck and all the way down his arms.</p><p>"I… think so?" Takumi replied, just as quietly.</p><p>"Good," Ryousuke said, sounding pleased. "And I have to ask you for this once again: If there is something you don't feel comfortable with, you need to tell me so without hesitation. I will not be angry or judge you for anything. But it is very important that I respect your boundaries at all times, and for that, you have to tell me. Do you understand?"</p><p>Takumi nodded.</p><p>"Tell me your answer. Use your words."</p><p>"Yes, I understand," Takumi said, quickly and almost automatically. To his puzzlement, he had to admit that this didn't even feel that bad or embarrassing. Not at all.</p><p>Ryousuke hummed. "Very good." He gave Takumi an encouraging smile, who in response felt his face heat up a bit. It wasn't even like he had never been affected like this by Ryousuke before. Pretty much every time Takumi heard praise from his mentor's mouth, it made him feel a bit flustered. Part of him suddenly wondered if Ryousuke knew and was using that to his advantage right now. He honestly wouldn't put it past him, given his liking for playing mind games.</p><p>He didn't get much time to brood over that. "Now that we have that sorted out, let us move on to what we are actually here for," said Ryousuke. "Come here, Fujiwara. Move a bit closer."</p><p>Takumi bit his lip and scooted closer to him until their shoulders were almost touching. He searched in Ryousuke's face for whether this was what he had had in mind. Ryousuke chuckled quietly. "Almost," he said when Takumi tentatively leaned his head against his shoulder. Up close like this, Takumi could smell his cologne. He honestly never would have thought that Ryousuke would tolerate such close contact, let alone encourage it. Then again, Takumi also would have never expected that Ryousuke had a kinky side; and yet here he was. No matter the cause: What they were doing right now was definitely at least a little bit kinky.</p><p>Takumi felt Ryousuke's body move with his light laughter through their contact. Ryousuke then raised his hands to Takumi's shoulders and gently, but insistently persuaded him to lay down his head in his lap. Takumi wordlessly blinked up at the ceiling, then at Ryousuke's face who was looking down at him attentively, as if waiting for protest. When Takumi uttered none, Ryousuke let one of his hands come to rest in his still slightly damp hair.</p><p>"Is this enjoyable?", Ryousuke asked, his quiet voice sending a shiver down Takumi's spine. He nodded, closing his eyes to the feeling of long fingers carding through his hair. Once his eyes were closed, he noticed how tired he actually still was.</p><p>He didn't say anything, and neither did Ryousuke. Takumi's initial feelings of light flustered panic were making way to a comfortable calmness, as long as he didn't think <em>too</em> much about where he was and who exactly it was that was petting his hair right now.</p><p>The gentle caresses were slowly starting to make him even more sleepy, but he forced himself to open his eyes again. He wasn't planning to fall asleep in Ryousuke's lap, and he craned his head to look at him. But Ryousuke looked down at him with a small smile, one eyebrow slightly raised and a strange glint in his eyes. The hand Takumi's hair stopped moving and instead tugged lightly, not enough to hurt but enough to notice.</p><p>"Takumi," Ryousuke said, and the sound of his voice saying his given name sent what felt almost like a small electric shock through Takumi's body, "Sleep."</p><p>Takumi's eyes widened at the softly uttered command, and he stared up at Ryousuke as a finger almost teasingly started drawing little circles on his head.</p><p>"Allow yourself to sleep. You need the rest, and nobody will disturb you here." His thumb caressed Takumi's cheek and he found himself leaning into the touch, watching Ryousuke's smile get wider.</p><p>"Are you going to try for me?", he asked in that tone of voice that made Takumi tremble.</p><p>"Yes," Takumi answered quickly, voice cracking slightly, and was rewarded by the hand in his hair starting to move again. He was learning a lot of things not only about others but also about himself today, it seemed. Maybe Ryousuke was right. Maybe this was, in a way, something he needed.</p><p>He relaxed in response to the touches and closed his eyes again, trying not to fight off the approaching sleep this time. It was hard not to think about what might happen to this situation once he woke up, but he tried to stop himself from worrying about it. It was, in fact, very easy to relax right now; despite or maybe precisely because he was being watched by two people that had become very important to him in the last few months.</p><p>It would probably be fine, he told himself. Maybe he could just… switch off this once; after all, they also wanted him to do that, right?</p><p>He barely noticed how he finally drifted off into a deep sleep, for the first time in a long while willingly and not just because he simply couldn't keep himself awake anymore.</p><p> </p><p>Keisuke watched from his position how Takumi's breathing gradually evened out as he fell asleep. Ryousuke still didn't seem willing to stop carding his fingers through the young downhill ace's hair like he had been doing for the past fifteen minutes at least. Watching him do that, Keisuke almost felt a bit envious. It had been fascinating to witness how quickly Takumi had melted into Ryousuke's touch, almost as if that was what he had been waiting for the entire time. It seemed like Ryousuke had once again been completely right about this. And now it felt as if Takumi wasn't the only one in this room who was completely touch-starved.</p><p>Keisuke looked back at his brother's face. Ryousuke seemed to be in his own world right now, and it made Keisuke wonder whether his "soft spot" for Takumi actually ran a bit deeper than he thought. He almost didn't want to disturb him, but there was a fact that bothered him. Ryousuke also seemed tired, and all things considered, Keisuke had a strong suspicion that he had spent most of the night reading. If he had to guess what, he would say that he had probably been doing research on sleeping problems. The irony of that was probably lost on him.</p><p>"You should get some sleep, too," Keisuke told him quietly as not to wake Takumi.</p><p>Ryousuke glanced at him with slightly furrowed brows, and Keisuke was already expecting to be declined. Then his brother chuckled quietly. "I think I can do that," he said, voice soft as he looked down at Takumi sleeping peacefully against him. Keisuke couldn't help the little smile that spread on his face. What Ryousuke had said to him earlier seemed to be true: This whole thing wasn't <em>just</em> for Takumi. Only mainly.</p><p>He watched as Ryousuke carefully freed himself from underneath Takumi without stirring him too much, and then helped him cover their teammate with the blanket just like they had done the night before. Takumi looked adorable when he was asleep, Keisuke thought. He hoped he would get to see that more often.</p><p>"Until later, then," Ryousuke said before finally going upstairs, hopefully to catch some more sleep until the evening.</p><p>Before he left as well, Keisuke couldn't resist the urge to run his fingers through the sleeping Takumi's hair just once, to figure out what it felt like to do that. He found that it was just as soft as he had imagined.</p><p>Smiling to himself, he murmured a quiet "Sleep well" before being on his way to his own room. It wasn't often that he spent so much thought on one single person.</p><p>But Takumi had always been special, hadn't he?</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>…Because let's face it, Ryousuke's sleeping habits are at least as bad as Takumi's.</p><p>Oh, and please: If you have a request for a (non-sexual (…for now?)) kink you want me to include in a hypothetical future chapter, tell me. I have exactly one idea and zero clue what I'm even doing here. Help.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Keisuke wants attention and discovers that he has a thing for necks. What can go wrong?</p>
<p>(Nothing goes wrong, actually, except for Keisuke having to admit a few Takumi-related truths to himself.)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I personally think it's pretty hilarious how popular this fic seems to be. Popular compared to most of my other works, at least. Looking into my statistics, I can see that it's approaching my two long-running multichapter fics in almost every category, even at only two chapters... So I guess y'all want more of this?</p>
<p>As for that, here's an important note: I've decided to turn this story into a series! I have many ideas for scenes to write, but few for an actual compelling overarching narrative, so to avoid writing myself into a corner or feeling pressured by a forever unfinished WIP I'll finish the fic with this chapter. Everyone who might be subscribed to this fic and wants to be up to date when I post a new story related to this can simply subscribe to the series! There's more kinkiness to come, this is just the setup ;)</p>
<p>(And I'm still thankful for every comment and suggestion!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>Keisuke glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned. It was getting late and the house, save for him, was still silent.</p>
<p>He was bored. Or maybe, more accurately, <em>restless</em>. Sure, he was happy about those two sleeping schedule disasters finally catching up a bit, but he himself had some real problems keeping his mind occupied with things that were <em>not</em> Takumi falling asleep in Ryousuke's lap. Nothing seemed to pass the time (and adding to that, Takumi currently occupied his preferred video gaming spot. He <em>was</em> going to move to the guest bedroom next time, even if Keisuke would have to carry him there. Actually, that last part didn't sound like such a terrible concept in general).</p>
<p>He had gotten pretty hungry after a while, so he had gone downstairs to the kitchen and made himself a little snack. There were still no signs of anyone waking up.</p>
<p>Keisuke was usually capable of finding something to do, but that tended to involve either video games or, more often, leaving the house to go for a drive or whatever. Neither was an option to him right now, so all he could really do was wait and fail to keep his mind off the issue at hand.</p>
<p>Speaking of which…</p>
<p>"Hey…"</p>
<p>Keisuke abruptly abandoned his formerly slumped position on the kitchen chair and sat up, boredom immediately forgotten at the sound of Takumi's quiet voice from the doorway.</p>
<p>"Hey," he replied even before fully turning around to him.</p>
<p>Then Keisuke got a proper look at him and gaped.</p>
<p>Nothing, not even his imagination, could have prepared him for that image: Takumi, hair messy after just having woken up, wearing one of Keisuke's sweaters which was too big for him, and yawning quietly into his hand.</p>
<p>Something in Keisuke's brain must have short-circuited at the sight since the only thing he could think about for a moment was how freaking adorable Takumi looked like that.</p>
<p>Takumi slowly traipsed into the kitchen and caught Keisuke staring at him. He furrowed his brows. "Is something the matter?"</p>
<p>"Nothing," Keisuke quickly deflected. Takumi looked unconvinced, but thankfully dropped the topic. That gave Keisuke a few moments to stomach the realisation that it was not exactly normal for him to have his emotions so messed up just by seeing someone yawn. He had thought the earlier sight of Takumi falling asleep to Ryousuke carding his fingers through his hair had been bad, but now that warm feeling in his chest was back with a vengeance.</p>
<p>He cleared his throat and asked, "Feeling any better now?"</p>
<p>Takumi shrugged. "Yeah, a bit," he said and searchingly looked around. "Where's-?"</p>
<p>"Ryousuke is still sleeping. I think so, at least."</p>
<p>Takumi nodded a bit sheepishly and began staring at the wall with a vacant look in his eyes. Keisuke had a hunch that he knew what the other was thinking about right now. His mind kept wandering off to that, too. How Takumi had practically melted under those gentle touches… Keisuke wanted so badly to see that again. Maybe there was a chance for that, too, seeing that Takumi had yet to freak out about it.</p>
<p>…Not that Keisuke had ever seen him freak out about anything.</p>
<p>He gave Takumi a contemplative look. The other didn't notice, as he still appeared to have his head in the clouds.</p>
<p>It was weird, really. Keisuke used to think that Takumi's tendency to space off all the time was really annoying because he stopped paying attention then, but now he found it almost endearing. Only when it didn't mean that he wasn't focusing on important things anymore, though.</p>
<p>Maybe that really was the entire secret: Getting Takumi to focus.</p>
<p>Very slowly, an idea was beginning to take shape in Keisuke's head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Takumi still felt a bit tired, but that much was to be expected after just getting up from a sleep that had been longer than what he got in the last three days, combined. Probably. He hadn't really been keeping track of how much sleep he was getting. It couldn't have been much. Keisuke would probably shout at him for that, so he wasn't about to tell him.</p>
<p>A hand was being waved in front of his face. "Hello. Earth to Fujiwara."</p>
<p>Takumi jumped a little and looked at Keisuke, the owner of said hand. "Sorry."</p>
<p>Keisuke only huffed, which sounded more like a small, suppressed laugh. "Seriously, to know where you are with your head sometimes…"</p>
<p>As if Keisuke was unaware of what was currently occupying Takumi's thoughts. The younger Takahashi was definitely avoiding the topic just as much as he did.</p>
<p>He wasn't sure how to talk to him after what had happened. Any way to address the topic that Takumi could come up with felt way too awkward, and he wasn't sure whether to be glad or disappointed that Ryousuke wasn't there right now. He surely wouldn't have any inhibitions to bring it up.</p>
<p>With nothing to do against it, Takumi's mind started wandering off again. Off to that feeling of warmth and comfort that Ryousuke's earlier actions had provided him with. It was odd to think about how easy it had been to relax under his touches and voice, especially since Takumi tended to get nervous around him so easily. Takumi was pondering hard on whether he should be embarrassed. He normally would be, but it all seemed so… uncomplicated, for lack of a better word. As if something had simply fallen into place.</p>
<p>He couldn't bring himself to be ashamed about what had happened, or even opposed to something like that possibly happening again. Even Keisuke acted as if nothing were out of the ordinary, although Takumi supposed that it would help if he actually addressed the elephant in the room. This silence was getting a bit unnerving.</p>
<p>…Well, not exactly <em>silence</em>.</p>
<p>"Fujiwara…"</p>
<p>Takumi startled as Keisuke's slightly exasperated voice got through to him.</p>
<p>"Again?"</p>
<p>"…Sorry." <em>Again.</em> "I've just got a lot to think about."</p>
<p>"You sure do," mumbled Keisuke, more to himself.</p>
<p>"Anyway, what's your opinion on yakisoba?"</p>
<p>Takumi blinked confusedly in response to the sudden question. "Uh… I like it?"</p>
<p>"Great," said Keisuke and began rummaging around in the cupboards and the fridge, searching for ingredients. "Is chicken okay?"</p>
<p>"Sure," Takumi answered and watched, almost transfixed, as Keisuke boiled a portion of noodles and started heating up the pan. His movements were practised enough to convince Takumi that he knew what he was doing around the kitchen. What a revelation. In all honesty, Takumi would have never thought that Keisuke of all people knew how to cook. It made him wonder whether that morning's miso soup had also been made by him, and why he had learned. Takumi knew how to cook because his dad had taught him early on how to pick up some slack in the household. He had sort-of always assumed that Keisuke was too much of a spoiled rich kid to know his way around a kitchen. Guess he had been mistaken about that.</p>
<p>"Can I help somehow?" he asked after watching Keisuke for a bit, wanting to be polite at least.</p>
<p>Keisuke barely turned around to say, "Yeah, by staying right where you are. Let me handle this."</p>
<p>Takumi shut his mouth again and continued looking at Keisuke's broad shoulders from behind while the other worked. A delicious aroma was beginning to spread through the kitchen. Takumi had not been very hungry before, but now his stomach was reminding him of the fact that he hadn't had anything for lunch, as he had slept right through it. He almost started regretting that he had declined a second bowl of soup that morning.</p>
<p>He always felt a bit awkward waiting and doing nothing while someone else worked, but watching Keisuke was actually not that bad. There was something calming to it, for some reason. To his own surprise, Takumi was noticing how he was actually beginning to feel more comfortable around the other. Was that a bit ironic, considering the whole situation?</p>
<p>He wondered what Keisuke thought about the whole thing, since he was being so quiet about it. Earlier, he had just seemed intrigued. Takumi wondered whether he had any desire to do something like <em>that</em>, too. If he was honest with himself, he sort-of hoped so. He had no idea what part of him was craving intimacy and care so much right now, and where the heck it had come from; but now it was here, and that was the brothers' fault anyway, wasn't it? And Keisuke-</p>
<p>Well, Keisuke's actions certainly did not help.</p>
<p>He appeared to be done preparing the meal now and filled two bowls, placing one of them in front of Takumi. "Here. Enjoy," he said and sat down at the other side of the table.</p>
<p>"Thank you for the food," Takumi uttered. He was still a bit caught up in his musings. Without thinking about it too much, he immediately took a first bite and regretted it; he started coughing and spluttering because it was still way too hot.</p>
<p>"Whoa there. Eager, aren't we?" snickered Keisuke as he watched Takumi reach hastily for a glass of water. The latter paid him no mind until after he had taken a few gulps to soothe the burn on his tongue and in his throat. <em>Ow.</em> He grumbled a little at Keisuke's faint grin in his direction and sheepishly turned his attention back to the food, this time being more careful with it.</p>
<p>Keisuke dug into his own portion and hummed thoughtfully. "What do you think?" he asked, and upon Takumi's confused look, pointed at his bowl with his chopsticks. "The food. Do you like it?"</p>
<p>"Ah. Yeah, it's great. Thank you," Takumi answered truthfully. The yakisoba was quite delicious when it wasn't scorching his taste buds.</p>
<p>Keisuke looked satisfied with the answer. "Feel free to have a second portion if you want."</p>
<p>"I've only just started eating," Takumi reminded him. The other did not seem perturbed by that at all. Takumi was suddenly met with a very inquisitive look that gave him pause even before Keisuke started speaking.</p>
<p>"Tell me one thing. Do you even eat regularly?"</p>
<p>Takumi blinked at him. "Where does that question come from now?"</p>
<p>"Just a hunch," Keisuke said.</p>
<p>"Why would you ask me something like that based only on a hunch?"</p>
<p>Keisuke scoffed. "Maybe it's because I recently learned that you're pretty bad at taking care of yourself. Better ask about these things before I accidentally find out about them weeks later."</p>
<p>About to protest on reflex because the barely hidden accusation ticked him off a bit, Takumi stopped himself after remembering that he had had this discussion before and lost it. After all, that was exactly the reason why he was still sitting here.</p>
<p>"That's still pretty rude," he said instead, lamely.</p>
<p>Keisuke only shrugged. "So, are you skipping meals or not?"</p>
<p>As always, he was quick to get back to the point, Takumi thought. But if Keisuke were ever worried about coming off as impolite, he would have never confronted him about looking tired in the first place. Takumi sighed.</p>
<p>"Sometimes," he admitted. "Doesn't happen too often, though." Just once or twice a week, so it wasn't like he was starving. If he were, he wouldn't simply forget about it.</p>
<p>"You're really not supposed to do that, you know."</p>
<p>Takumi shot him a look. "Are you going to keep nagging me about it now?"</p>
<p>Keisuke stared right back at him, grinning faintly without any actual joy behind it. "Do I have to?"</p>
<p>Takumi scoffed, and glared, and choked on the words he would have usually liked to say. He didn't know what to think about this. He didn't know much in general anymore, or so it seemed. No-one had ever cared about his habits let alone confronted him about it, not even his dad (aside from reminding him that he better be awake for his delivery when he had any plans for the evening). Why was it an issue <em>now?</em></p>
<p>He suddenly did not feel all that hungry anymore. "No," he muttered and joylessly took another bite. He felt Keisuke's eyes on him as he ate. What had been thought earlier about feeling more comfortable around the other still remained true, but it did not really extend to being stared at.</p>
<p>He finally was bothered by it enough that he glanced up and opened his mouth to remark on it.</p>
<p>When he actually saw the look being directed at him, however, he quickly shut his mouth again without having said anything. He had never been great at reading the atmosphere, but something had shifted right now, and Takumi had an odd feeling of recognition upon seeing that sort of glint in Keisuke's eyes.</p>
<p>Putting his chopsticks down and still meeting Keisuke's piercing stare, Takumi waited for the other to say something and explain the sudden shift of atmosphere that had occurred just now.</p>
<p>"You're always straying off somewhere with your thoughts," Keisuke said. "I wonder what it would take for you to concentrate on what you're supposed to think about."</p>
<p>"Like not skipping meals?" Takumi asked flatly.</p>
<p>"For example, yeah. You know what I'm talking about. It's not like we didn't already lay it out for you."</p>
<p>There it was again, that strange glint in Keisuke's eyes. Takumi recognised it now: It was the same expression that he had seen in Ryousuke's face when… <em>that </em>had happened.</p>
<p>Ah, to hell with it. Takumi had had enough of skirting around the issue, and Keisuke's vague insinuations weren't helping at all.</p>
<p>"You keep saying something like that while not actually explaining anything. Are you expecting me to read your mind to find out what you actually want from me?"</p>
<p>Keisuke scoffed. "No, you only need to listen occasionally. I want you to pay more attention to yourself, like I've said about four times already. And I want to know whether you can actually do that."</p>
<p>"Didn't we talk about this already?"</p>
<p>"Yup, and I didn't get much of an answer from you. Do you think you'll be able to be a bit more careful in the future? Because if not, I want to know."</p>
<p>"And if I say no, you will do what?"</p>
<p>Keisuke leaned back in his chair, trying to keep his expression neutral. Takumi saw the tenseness around his mouth and eyes and interpreted it as possibly anger or frustration.</p>
<p>"Aniki explained it already. We can take over for you."</p>
<p>"By doing what?" Takumi challenged, "Monitoring my day?"</p>
<p>Keisuke scoffed. "Obviously not. I doubt that even aniki would go that far. Well, barely." He smirked. "He probably would if you asked him to."</p>
<p>"I am not going to do that."</p>
<p>"Fortunately, for all of us."</p>
<p>Takumi looked at the slight grimace on Keisuke's face and wondered how much of what he had said was a hyperbole. And he still hadn't given him a proper answer to his question.</p>
<p>"So what do <em>you</em> plan to do?" he asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keisuke bit his lip. He knew he should have anticipated this exact question from Takumi, who seemed to like subtlety and beating around the bush just as much as he did. Which, of course, wasn't much.</p>
<p>Still, Keisuke just couldn't seem to bring himself to say anything outright about his exact desires in this moment. It was probably best to begin with something smaller that had been bothering him, right?</p>
<p>"We can start with you actually finishing your portion," he said and gave the half-finished yakisoba in front of Takumi a meaningful look.</p>
<p>Takumi looked down at it a bit blankly and picked the chopsticks back up, seeming a bit distracted. He had probably forgotten about it already. It bothered Keisuke that the other was neither sleeping nor eating the proper amounts. He was apparently worse about it than Ryousuke, which said something. After all, Ryousuke's bad habits were part of the reason why Keisuke even knew how to cook.</p>
<p>That was not the issue right now, however.</p>
<p>"What's wrong?" Keisuke asked when Takumi looked back at him instead of continuing to eat. "Getting distracted again? Huh. Maybe I should just go ahead and feed you. We'll never finish here if you keep drifting off to who-knows-where."</p>
<p>It was only half a joke, uttered in a sarcastic tone of voice. But Takumi must have picked up on something as his gaze suddenly turned oddly sharp.</p>
<p>"And why don't you just do that?"</p>
<p>Now it was again Keisuke's turn to not know what to say. Hell, this wasn't what he had anticipated at all. That was probably his mistake since he was sort of supposed to know by now that Takumi didn't back out of a challenge, even a joking one.</p>
<p>Well, half-joking.</p>
<p>Keisuke cursed under his breath. As always, Takumi kept eking him on and silently challenging him to go ever further. He had to be careful to not get swept away too far and do something they'd both regret. Keisuke hated the thought of freaking Takumi out enough that he would begin to keep a distance.</p>
<p>An even bigger distance, that is. Takumi was already not quite as close and obtainable as Keisuke would have personally liked it.</p>
<p>Dumb decision or not, it was that desire for closeness that made Keisuke retort, "The important question here is: Will you <em>let</em> me?"</p>
<p>He watched fascinatedly as Takumi bit his lower lip and nodded. Somehow, he couldn't quite keep his eyes away anymore.</p>
<p>Suddenly a bit nervous, Keisuke cleared his throat. He was pretty bad at this, wasn't he?</p>
<p>…Hell, what was he doing letting Takumi pass him like this? He needed to catch up before he got left behind.</p>
<p>He stood up wordlessly and walked over to Takumi's side of the table with quick, confident steps. Unimpressed by Takumi's once again blank stare, he grabbed the chopsticks right out of his hands. <br/>"You're gonna have to move a bit if we're doing this," he said and sat down on the chair next to him. "C'mon, face me."</p>
<p>Takumi blinked and let out a surprised little sound but obliged. Keisuke tried in turn to not show too much of his own surprise. They were really doing this now, huh? Even though Keisuke still didn't know what <em>'this'</em> was going to be and where it was going to lead, he felt anticipation building in his stomach. Takumi was waiting for him to proceed, looking like he was anticipating that something to happen just like Keisuke did.</p>
<p>With a movement that might have been a bit too hasty, Keisuke grabbed the until now ignored bowl and fished out a small piece of roasted chicken.</p>
<p>"Here. Don't expect me to do all the work for you," he said and held it out for Takumi to take.</p>
<p>Takumi met his eyes before he leaned forward and closed his lips around the bite offered to him. He didn't avert his gaze even as he retreated again and chewed. It was like a challenge, like the thing that passed between the two of them before a race.</p>
<p>
  <em>Show me what you're going to do now.</em>
</p>
<p>Keisuke was all too happy to oblige.</p>
<p>In fact, it was hard to believe how enthusiastic he was about this. He didn't exactly think of himself as having a nurturing personality, but that didn't explain the satisfaction he felt seeing Takumi eat. There was hardly any other excuse for the confusing mixture of thoughts and feelings he was going through right now except for the one that he wasn't quite ready to admit to himself.</p>
<p>Takumi just kept blowing his mind at every turn. Keisuke just couldn't keep his eyes off him, both figuratively and literally. Similarly as with his brother, it sometimes felt to him as if Takumi were always just out of his reach, which was as frustrating as it was intriguing. With how much it always inspired Keisuke to go above and beyond, it had hit him especially hard to see how bad Takumi's condition had become. It was easy to tell himself that this was just because Takumi was supposed to be his teammate and rival and be at one hundred percent at all times. However, if Keisuke dug a little deeper (which he rarely liked to do), the underlying truth was that he cared for Takumi.</p>
<p>Whether he was currently willing to admit that to himself or not, fact was that he was really enjoying himself right now. He was almost about to say so but stopped himself from doing that in the last possible moment. This wasn't really about him anymore, was it now?</p>
<p>No, this was about Takumi.</p>
<p>Takumi, who had become so important to Keisuke. Takumi, who was currently readily allowing Keisuke to take care of him. Takumi, who…</p>
<p>…who, by the way his eyes drifted away from Keisuke's face and the slightly empty expression he gained, was straying off with his thoughts once again.</p>
<p>Keisuke furrowed his brows. This was exactly what he was trying to <em>stop</em> from happening. Takumi was supposed to focus more, but apparently what they were doing right now, unusual as it was, was still not enough to keep his attention from drifting away.</p>
<p>"Oi. Pay attention to me."</p>
<p>Takumi's eyes shot back towards him, and he even had the gall to look a bit confused as if he had completely forgotten about what was happening already.</p>
<p>Keisuke huffed, watching in dismay as Takumi took the next bite a bit sheepishly.</p>
<p>"What are you even thinking about?"</p>
<p>Takumi shook his head lightly and quickly swallowed before answering, "It's not that important."</p>
<p>"If it's not that important," Keisuke said lowly, "you can stop thinking about it and focus on me instead."</p>
<p>Takumi looked as if he wanted to say something in response, but Keisuke shushed him by holding a finger to his lips. Just that small touch sent a jolt of electricity through him. Takumi's lips felt so soft and kissable…</p>
<p>Keisuke cursed internally. By the looks of it, Takumi wasn't the only one who needed to keep his focus. Those kinds of thoughts needed to stay in the back of his mind where they belonged.</p>
<p>Back to the plan. The very improvised, spur of the moment plan.</p>
<p>Keisuke gathered his thoughts just enough to ask, "Do you trust me?" He took in Takumi's expression with bated breath.</p>
<p>A miniscule pause, then a nod.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh.</em>
</p>
<p>Keisuke quietly exhaled the breath he had been holding back. He felt a bit like when he lost control of a drift, which also came with this sudden surge of adrenaline and almost-panic. He had been moving largely on impulse. That included the last question, too. Ryousuke had asked it yesterday, and Keisuke hadn't really expected to receive that same answer from Takumi. It was not too difficult to think of reasons why the latter would trust Ryousuke, but…</p>
<p><em>'Focus, Keisuke,'</em> he grimly told himself.<em> 'You're still in control of this situation.' </em></p>
<p>What he had thought earlier was probably wrong. He wasn't doing this just for Takumi. He had to be doing it for himself just as much, otherwise it wouldn't do.</p>
<p>And the truth was that he genuinely wanted Takumi to come down from his attitude of overworking himself and being miserable because it made <em>him</em> happy when Takumi was happy.</p>
<p>He cared for Takumi. It was time he admitted that to himself.</p>
<p>"Rely on me for this one, okay?" he said, suddenly feeling content with that knowledge. This was fine, really. Who else could catch his attention and spur him on like Takumi did? It only made sense that maybe, at some point along the way, he had developed some sort of affection for the other. All that Keisuke wanted was for Takumi's attention to be on him, too.</p>
<p>But Takumi was restless and anxious lately and his mind always seemed to be straying off. Ryousuke had managed to get him to focus and relax by having him hand over control over himself. That was what it had been, wasn't it?</p>
<p>Keisuke put the bowl and chopsticks aside and stood up. "I'm going to fetch something. Wait here for me."</p>
<p>He could almost feel Takumi's eyes boring into his back as he left the kitchen to search for what he needed for the idea that had just entered his head. He found it in the drawer in the hallway where the winter clothes were kept.</p>
<p>As he took the dark red cotton scarf out of the drawer, he noticed to his dismay that his hands were shaking a bit. He blamed it on the anticipation. He'd be lying if he said that he never thought about doing something like this before; it was just that he had never pictured this kind of situation for it.</p>
<p>He returned to Takumi, who looked a bit confusedly at the scarf but said nothing as Keisuke walked over to where he sat. Only when Keisuke (who watched him closely for any signs of rejection) reached out for his wrist did he speak up.</p>
<p>"Keisuke-san?"</p>
<p>Only his name, but uttered calmly. No sign of alarm, which was good. Still, Keisuke was starkly reminded that he should probably tell Takumi what he was planning to do before the thing. That was only fair; and after all, he wasn't Ryousuke.</p>
<p>He licked over his suddenly dry lips. "I'm going to tie your wrists together. Okay?"</p>
<p>Takumi looked at him a bit blankly, which didn't do much for Keisuke's disquiet. He kept silent, but Keisuke read the question in his gaze pretty easily.</p>
<p>"I think it might help you focus more on what we're doing," he explained. "Do you want to try?"</p>
<p>This time it took a bit longer for Takumi to nod his agreement, but when he did it, it looked resolute.</p>
<p>That was enough of an answer to Keisuke. He exhaled quietly, anticipation rising, and reached for one of Takumi's wrists again. This time there was no inquiry, but Keisuke felt Takumi twitch under his touch. He tried to keep his hands steady as he looped the scarf around Takumi's wrist before doing the same to the other and tying a knot between them. He made sure not to tie it too tightly since this was neither supposed to be uncomfortable nor to be inescapable by Takumi. It was supposed to serve more as a reminder than an actual restraint.</p>
<p>When the deed was done, Keisuke leaned back and inspected his work. In doing so, his and Takumi's eyes met, and he realised that the other was looking a bit flustered with a light blush tinting his cheeks. Keisuke would have remarked on that had he not suspected from the heat rising to his own cheeks that he was blushing as well. Takumi was cute, and he now had a perfect opportunity to appreciate that to his heart's content.</p>
<p>"Let's continue where we interrupted this," he said lowly and once again picked up the bowl of yakisoba. He would have liked to enjoy the pure view a bit longer, but he didn't want the food to get completely cold.</p>
<p>This time, however, he did inch even closer to Takumi so that their knees were touching. Part of Keisuke wanted Takumi to just sit in his lap, but that probably went a bit too far for the first time doing this. Maybe next time, if there would even be a next time. Keisuke tried not to focus on such concerns too much and stay in the moment instead.</p>
<p>The moment, after all, was already plenty satisfying. Takumi let himself be fed both quietly and eagerly, now really seeming much more focused. Keisuke hoped that he currently felt the same urge to get even closer to each other.</p>
<p>He fascinatedly watched Takumi's Adam's apple bob with each swallow. It was still gratifying to see him eat, especially so now that Keisuke actually had his full attention.</p>
<p>He paused and, unable to contain himself, raised one hand to Takumi's neck. His fingers softly came to rest right above the other's throat. Takumi stilled and Keisuke looked him in the eyes, where he found cautious curiosity. Proceed carefully, then. He let his fingertips wander across Takumi's soft skin, not actually pressing down, only testing the waters.</p>
<p>Takumi swallowed, and Keisuke could feel the movement underneath his fingers. He couldn't explain the fascination he felt. He wasn't sure if he wanted to try. Takumi was watching him more attentively than he had ever done before, and it was doing things to him.</p>
<p>This was either the best or the worst idea he's ever had.</p>
<p>He carefully kept feeding Takumi bits of food until the bowl was empty, which Keisuke didn't even notice at first because he was so caught up in staring at Takumi and enjoying the feeling of his soft skin under his fingertips. Once he did notice, he was disappointed. He had technically reached his goal, but he wanted this moment to last, and Takumi didn't say anything, either…</p>
<p>Suddenly the moment was disturbed by an entirely different voice.</p>
<p>"Well. That is certainly not what I expected to see first thing after waking up."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ryousuke watched amusedly as two heads quickly turned towards him, with expressions like deer caught in the headlights.</p>
<p>Keisuke's expression in particular was hilarious, somewhat supported by the fact that he currently had one of his hands lightly wrapped around Fujiwara's throat.</p>
<p><em>'Well. That escalated quickly,'</em> Ryousuke thought wryly and arched his brows.</p>
<p>The moment ended abruptly when Keisuke scrambled to get some distance between himself and Fujiwara. Fujiwara, however, did no such thing and only kept staring. He wore a lovely little blush on his face, and, as Ryousuke noted with no small amount of surprise, a scarf tied around his wrists.</p>
<p>
  <em>'Huh. I never expected he would let himself be restrained.'</em>
</p>
<p>He filed that piece of information away for later reference and walked past the flustered duo towards the coffee machine.</p>
<p>"It seems you've used your time well," he commented nonchalantly and enjoyed the way his brother got even redder in the face. He looked like he wanted to say something along the lines of 'It's not what it looks like' for a moment but kept quiet instead and untied Fujiwara's wrists.</p>
<p>"My apologies," Ryousuke continued and watched the red fabric fall away with something akin to regret. "I didn't mean to disturb you."</p>
<p>He inspected the empty dishes on the table and the pan with yakisoba leftovers on the stove. "You've already had dinner I see."</p>
<p>Keisuke cleared his throat, finally broken out of his embarrassed stupor. "Sorry we didn't wait for you."</p>
<p>Ryousuke waved it off. "It's fine." What Keisuke and Fujiwara had done instead of waiting for him might have led to a few revelations for both of them, although of course he could not say that for sure. He would have really enjoyed witnessing the entire scene, but it was regretfully impossible. He'd have to interrogate Keisuke about it at a later point.</p>
<p>He was, however, definitely delighted by the awake and attentive Fujiwara sitting at their kitchen table. Keisuke combined with a proper amount of sleep had done good work, it seemed.</p>
<p>Picking up his cup of coffee, Ryousuke leisurely walked over to the table and ruffled Fujiwara's hair in passing. His young downhill ace spluttered and ducked out under his hand.</p>
<p>Adorable.</p>
<p>He would have to be careful not to indulge himself too much… for now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Takumi sighed into the warm evening air and held a water bottle to his forehead in order to cool himself down a bit. Summer still had its clutches on the prefecture and sitting in a car for the better part of the night did nothing to help against the temperatures.</p>
<p>It had been a week since that momentous confrontation with Keisuke, and Takumi had hardly been able to think about anything else than what he had learned about the brothers that weekend. It was a thought difficult to get used to – that they did, in fact, care about him in some way, shape or form. And that they were both sort of kinky.</p>
<p>And that he himself was apparently also sort of kinky.</p>
<p>Takumi did not exactly try to ignore it – after all, that was pretty hard to do when he was yearning for a continuation of the whole thing as much as he was, in addition to the meaningful looks both Keisuke and Ryousuke kept sending him occasionally.</p>
<p>Not that both of them weren't still mysteries to Takumi, but he was pretty sure that those looks meant that they wanted to continue this, too. It was only that neither they nor Takumi himself had said such a thing out loud so far. After that dinner with Keisuke they had both left him alone for the most part. He had left their house the next morning without much fanfare, and now, a bit under a week later, he was still trying to sort through the events. It was probably good that the brothers had left him alone and given him some space. He had a lot to sort through, after all. Enough so that his colleagues had remarked about how he was spacing off more than usual.</p>
<p>Something needed to happen.</p>
<p>Thankfully, this time it seemed as if it did not need a couple of weeks for that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hey, wanna come over to our place again later?", Keisuke asked between two practise runs.</p>
<p>Takumi blinked up at him, trying to read his expression in an attempt to figure out whether this was going to be like last time. Judging by the twinkle in his eyes, the answer to that question was <em>yes</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Sure," Takumi said.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I definitely already have plans for another related story. As said in the notes at the beginning: Keep an eye on the series if you're interested in more!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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